It doesn’t take much to entertain two preschoolers. Spending money is definitely not necessary, nor is traveling long distances to get there. Little ones are thoroughly happy with a quick trip to the local discount store, especially if it includes a few minutes in the toy aisle.

This week a group of us geared up for a shopping excursion, dividing up into 3 groups when we got to the store. Three carts allowed us to fan out and buy gifts for each other while still keeping Christmas secrets. After a while, Louisa, Skylar, Micah and I ended up in the toy aisle, “just to look,” but of course we also played.

Inspecting an array of balls, trucks, dolls and gizmos, we laughed and had more fun than if we’d been at Disneyland. The unending eagerness of two young children rubbed off on us adults, and Louisa and I started to act like kids, too.

Enthusiasm for almost anything can jump from one person to another in all kinds of circumstances. For example, if I watch a cooking show, by the end of it I want to head for the kitchen to make something. If I spend time with a physical fitness buff, I want to start an exercise program.

The same is true when I spend time with God. In reading a biography of D. L. Moody, I learned he had trouble loving others, even though he tried his best. Although he was a Christian, he said he didn’t have much compassion for the lost. So he made a decision to look up the word “love” in his Bible concordance and read every reference where it appeared. By the time he was finished, his heart was bursting with love for others, and he couldn’t reach out to them fast enough, eventually becoming a globally known evangelist.

Interestingly, he acknowledged it was God’s love not his own that enabled him to love others, especially strangers. It had rubbed off on him the same way Skylar and Micah’s playfulness had rubbed off on Louisa and me. Without their jumping-up-and-down-excitement in the toy aisle, we’d have  just been two calm adults walking through the store. Because of them, we were playing.

Moody found that the truth in God’s Word rubbed off on him to the point of empowering him to love others. In the same way, the Lord offers to rub off on all of us when we spend time alongside him. After we do, we’ll be able to accomplish all kinds of God-empowered things.

By the way, yesterday Lars asked me what I’d like for Christmas. I think I’ll ask for the Barbie Hairtastic Salon.

“God is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:27, 28)